Rainy days can be fun when you’re being the rain yourself in a punchy action rhyme, and thinking up sounds and ‘doing-words’ to say and write - especially when writing them on an umbrella! Children who can’t write yet can colour the many-sectioned umbrella and contribute verbally. There are 2 short rhymes - actions provided - and 1 writing sheet with accompanying Guide for use/lesson plan. This resource supports Literacy, Expressive Arts & Design, Understanding the World (seasons and weather) and Physical Development. Rhymes are original, designs hand-drawn - home produced. PDFs. Here’s my poem ‘What is a Cloud’ (published): https://youtu.be/EOKVIktMh10

These 5 simple, rhythmic rhymes focus on everyday concepts. Their titles are: Busy Street, In the Park, Windy Day, Taller and Smaller, and School is for Me. Each rhyme sheet includes guidance notes. Suitable for clapping, enacting, word-swapping and performing with embellishments (such as percussion, a tune, or extra actions). They support the learning areas Understanding the World, Expressive Arts & Design, Literacy, Communication & Language, and Physical Development. The rhymes (and illustrations) are my own.

This illustrated writing frame offers scope for imaginative input, while also stretching language skills. It can be used for a poem in its own right, or - for more able writers - a springboard for independent writing. The format calls for ideas for different park visitors and features, verbs to describe their actions, and adverbs to embellish them, e.g. ‘Dogs dashing wildly’. Ideas for variations, enrichments and extensions are included. Black/white, PDF

This intriguing poetry-writing theme, and the accessible, attractive worksheets, will motivate writers of all ability to think up imaginative description and similes. The Ideas Sheet, titled ‘City Lights’, is fun to use, with a spider diagram and scattered lines for adjectives and images. The poem frame, titled ‘Night Lights’, has plentiful space for writing, with clear, supporting structure, though able writers may prefer to use it as a launch pad for an individual approach. Both sheets are excitingly illustrated, with details to spark ideas. The Guide provides prompt suggestions for each and development ideas for the poem. The resource is home-produced and has been successfully used with Yr 3-6 classes. Black and white, PDF.

These 3 punchy rhymes bring the past alive. Their titles are: Who Lived in the Castle?, Bowing and Curtseying, and My Castle is Old. Each contain rhyme and rhythm, while offering scope for alternative words to be slotted in (notes below provide ideas for these). There is also scope for acting-out, adding sound effects and enhancing with percussion. Suggestions for all of these are provided. They serve to prepare children for writing about castles, also enriching their vocabulary, developing their sense of rhyme and rhythm, and providing a window on the past. In addition, they promote physical development: the actions involved are fun and imagination-triggering, encouraging creative expression and physical exertion. The rhymes and illustrations are my own. 3 sheets in total -PDF.

A space project is never complete without a few aliens, and children can let their imaginations go wild with this simple writing frame. The starter phrases and illustrations will all trigger ideas, motivating even reluctant writers to have a go. The accompanying sheet of guidance notes provides all sorts of suggestions to prompt for, line by line, should any children be stuck for ideas. Follow-on rhyme ideas are also included in the Guide, with examples. This hand-illustrated, home-produced, black-and-white sheet has been used successfully in classrooms. Recommended especially for Years 2-3.

This dramatically illustrated writing sheet invites onomatopoeias (or ‘sound words’) and nose-linked verbs. Suggestions for these are listed on the Guide sheet, along with suggestions for embellishments and developments. It is best suited to Yrs 3-6, as a starter sheet for a poem or story on the theme. The humour and drama depicted in the illustrations, and the chaotically scattered writing lines, will motivate children to have a go. Thinking up sound words and how to spell them can be tricky, so for best results, build a word bank together first, and prompt as necessary as they write. The Guide will provide plenty of ideas. This is a home-produced sheet with hand-drawn illustrations, and has been successfully tried and tested in my poetry workshops. Both sheets are black-and-white, in PDFs format.

This is a fun, imagination-firing, creative writing activity, centred on a pirate’s treasure map. It has proved popular with children of all ages and abilities in my workshops. It can be written individually or shared verbally, the challenge being to think up nouns to fit the gaps, with one rule: they have to start with the same letter as that of the starter word (e.g. Forest of Feet). The Guide sheet offers lists of words to prompt for - if needed, and suggestions for embellishing the activity. The challenge of thinking up nouns starting with the same letter as the starter word - and on a treasure map - motivates even reluctant writers to have a go at this mind-stretching, language-enriching game.

These larger-than-life spider pictures are fun to write on, and the Guide offers word prompt ideas for each section. Both writing sheets invite describing words and action words for spiders, though the pictures are different. On the ‘Spider’ sheet, words can be written on the eight legs; on the ‘Speeding Spider’ sheet, they can be written along the zigzag line of its route over the… floor/grass/path/step? That’s for the child to decide. The first offers colouring opportunities; the second, space for imaginative drawing or shading. Both sheets are hand-drawn and home-produced, and have been successfully tried out in my workshops.

This resource comprises 3 sheets: a planet-themed picture-poem simile writing frame for KS2, a simpler version for younger/less confident writers, and a guidance sheet for use, with examples of full poems and suggestions for development. Children have the fun of writing their poems on a planet - or planet-shaped frame. This fires enthusiasm and ideas for the writing task, which involves description and similes, and whatever individual writers may like to add. They’ll also need to invent a name for their planet. The possibilities for description are wide open, as the two examples on the guide sheet show, so creativity can take off in this activity. A simpler and harder example is provided on the guide sheet, for Yrs 3/4 and 5/6 respectively. This home-devised, hand-illustrated sheet has proved popular and rewarding in my poetry workshops.

This 5-sheet resource comprises a castle picture-poem, easier/harder, and a castle-characters picture-poem in 3 graded versions. These are attractive sheets with lively, hand-drawn illustrations of old, cobwebby, crumbling castles, the graded ones featuring characters such as a ghost, king and queen. Children have the fun of writing directly onto the castles - a particularly vivid experience in the ‘My castle is’ activity. Describing words are invited on each sheet. These writing frames are self-explanatory, having starter phrases followed by thick lines for writing, with increasing opportunities for imaginative, expressive input on the graded character sheets. For ‘My castle is’, prompt for describing words such as: old, crumbly, tall, spooky, dark, haunted, spidery, cold, windy, grand, royal, huge, hard, rat-infested, ghostly, scary, massive, golden, fine, splendid, stone, rich, ancient, mysterious, creepy, abandoned, damp, shadowy, candle-lit, and ruined. On the Castle Characters graded sheets, encourage a range of personality attributions for the ghost, king and queen, such as kind, mean, cruel, crazy, gentle, friendly, and various colours. The ghost might be see-through, floaty, spooky or dancing. This is principally a Literacy resource, though it also offers scope for expressive art through colouring, and an intriguing window onto the past.

These two poetry frame sheets have lively, idea-triggering illustrations, and are designed to be fun and accessible to use. Both invite creative input, in terms of ideas and choice of words. ‘Watch Out for the Giant’ is easier, being shorter and simpler, with the chief focus on description and some giant meal possibilities at the end - suitable for Yr2-3, or as a starter-sheet for older writers to build ideas. ‘The Giant Went…’ sheet is more challenging, though clearly structured, requiring action-words and accompanying similes, as well as description and settings. Onomatopoeias, alliteration, rhymes within lines, and other poetic techniques can also be employed, and there is scope for all sorts of crazy, giant-themed possibilities in each frame. The Examples for Use (one sheet per poetry frame) provide whole-poem examples for teachers’ and pupils’ guidance. Suggestions for extending the activities are provided at the end of each.

These attractive star pictures are fun to write in, and there are plenty of straight lines to write on - shooting in all directions. The variations are graded in difficulty, with increasing opportunities for words and similes, the hardest having three descriptive lines to complete below, about stars, sky and space. Colouring possibilities are wide open. Recommended approach: first, in a wide space, ‘be’ stars with your group, pointing, shooting, whirling, glowing, winking, blinking, dancing, spinning. Then prompt for verbs like these, and adjectives, such as spiky, sharp, peaceful, gentle, high up, twinkly, pretty, delicate, dainty, tiny - and different colours. The similes are for sparkly stars and dark space. The 3-sheet resource has been used with rewarding results in my workshops. They are hand-drawn and home-produced, so don’t expect perfect symmetry!